Walk In My Shoes

What’s Your Story? Fill out the form below.

In 150 words or less—accompanied by a picture of you at work…Help us walk in your shoes. We’re open to all union members, active, retired, laid off.

“We want rank and file members to help us to illustrate the rich, diverse tapestry of hard working men and women who make up the American labor movement. They are proud of their work and proud of the contributions they make to their communities,” explains Union Label Department President Richard Kline. “We want to demonstrate to American consumers and businesses that union labor gives added value in quality and reliability to products and services that are bought and sold.”

The pictures and stories we get will be published in the Label Letter and posted on the Department’s website—and perhaps in posters and other promotional materials. E-mail a Walk in Your Shoes to: unionlabel@unionlabel.org; or send by regular mail to:

Past Walk in My Shoes Submissions

After a brief stint in college, I worked for a non-union employer which did not offer health insurance, raises, or a pension. There was no security to be had, whatsoever. Looking for more stability, I applied for a job at the United States Steel, Fairless Works, and...

Union Brother since 2005, Brian Jerlin fondly remembers being selected at age 17 to begin apprenticeship in a new program called Public Works Center (now Naval Facility Engineering Mid-Atlantic). With a desire to excel and motivation to learn, Brian was the first...

I am a third generation communications worker. I may not be as eloquent as others, but I understand that the roof over my family’s head, the food in their bellies, and the clothes on their back are there because those who came before me fought hard and sacrificed to...

Does Your Union Buy Union? I am the shop steward at a CWA Local 7818 represented print shop in the Inland Northwest. The company, Lo-Go, prints banners, stickers, decals and does embroidery and silkscreen. We also manufacture specialty items like tote bags, bandanas...

Aloha! I’ve been a hotel worker and UNITE HERE Local 5 member for 24 years. I’m NOT a politician and I never dreamed of running for office, but I did it! When I was first asked to run for a seat on the Honolulu City Council, my first thought was, “That’s crazy!” I’m...

I have worked as a cook for Sodexo at Wheelock College in Boston for 11 years. Last year, we organized a union and won our first contract. Today I proudly say that my workplace has been totally changed for the better and that the Union gave us tools to fight for our...

My name is Mark Hackbart. I work at The Taylor Companies and I am the Chief Union Steward, Steelworkers Local 48U, in Bedford Ohio. I have been working at Taylor for almost 33 years. Taylor opened in 1816 and is the oldest office furniture manufacturer in the...

By David Westley Skillman, AFGE, Actors’ Equity, SAG & AFTRA I joined the military after high school, serving eight years. I also managed to complete a bachelor’s degree before I was honorably discharged. I went to work for the Equal Employment Opportunity...

Following retirement in 2003, Joe A. Sandoval devoted his new found “free time” to recollecting the colorful characters he met and reconstructing incidents he witnessed during his career in a USW-represented steel mill in Pueblo, Colorado. Joe’s book, entitled:...

By Tim Sugrue, 31-Year Professional Fire Fighter in Montgomery County, MD; District Rep., IAFF Local 1664 6 a.m. relieving the previous 24-hour shift. First order of business: check out the equipment: lights, sirens, tires, fuel. We’re in a semi rural suburban area,...